Soul of the Unborn

I tried, but I just could not get though this book, which I obtained through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program. It may very well be that once you get past chapter 17, the plot may take off, or the characters achieve dimensionality or behave in plausible ways. However, I'm finding it too difficult to get past the obstacles created by peculiar word choices and baffling similes to immerse myself in the story.

One problem is that it seems as if the author avails herself often of a thesaurus, but fails to use a dictionary. As a result, the words she chooses have connotations or nuances that are incorrect for the context. Here's a sampling:

"the illustrious sight of the Kremlin"
"the breeze...billowed the black strands of her hair" [billow show more is not a transitive verb, even if you can transitive verb anything in English]
"sand particles hopped and sunk, pushed by the spring's jets"
"a wild rose burgeoning in the sun"
"Peter and his coven, Luke and Jesse, raided my tool shed"
"an offspring believed to be her daughter got pregnant"

There are also similes and metaphors that fail to convey an image, or contain odd word choices that weaken the image:

"resembling human hands with spread, crooked fingers primed to catch prey" [this would be SO much stronger if the author had deleted the word "human"]
"A runaway train of excruciating trials sped in my direction, but my mind remained fixated on the man I had known for less than a day" [and yes, there's also that perennial problem of obsession at first sight, which plagues YA]
"my opportunity to resolve the worries that nagged me like horseflies on a beautiful white-sand beach"
"a euphoric cloud billowed in my brain, a massive cumulus of serotonin"

There are also some places where the author should have taken literary license and either used a foreign word or selected a less literal translation. I don't know enough about Slavic folklore to know what the pooka equivalent is, but this description of a malevolent water spirit fell flat:

"the girls ... were snatched by the underwater possum, a animal that hibernates deep beneath the riverbank"

Perhaps "possum" might be an accurate translation, but it's hardly atmospheric. This is just one of many places in which it feels as if the story was being translated imperfectly by a Internet search engine.

I think that a reader who cannot see why I took issue with the selected phrases might be fine with the book, which does seem to draw upon lesser-known folklore. Those who see the similarity of the author's prose to submissions to the Bulwer-Lytton contest might want to look to C.J. Cherryh for Slavic folklore applied to fantasy. show less

Soul of the Unborn by Natalia Brothers was interesting. It held my attention and the main characters were well developed. It was a bit confusing at first with the narrative switching back and forth, but it sorts itself out. I wish the ending were a little more upbeat.

This is the third Russian-themed fantasy novel I've read this year, and with mixed results. Soul of the Unborn starts as a investigation by a group of Americans into "Russian folklore" with a local guide, Valya. It would have helped tremendously to have some narrative describing this folklore -- instead, it's a bunch of paranormal hooey that for some reason seems perfectly natural to the American visitors (and is part of daily life for Valya). The characters aren't terribly compatible with each other and seem to switch moods and attitudes faster than a gaggle of toddlers. The pacing is also off...there is dialog between characters interspersed with sudden scene changes to action without preamble. It's almost like watching a TV show show more where a commercial break occurs after two people talking only to resume in the middle of a battle scene. In the end, I didn't find any of the characters believable, their motivations are contrived, and they simply aren't likable. The story might have some promise, but the execution of the novel didn't bring it to bear. show less

Absolutely love this book! I’m about to see if part 2 is out yet, if not I’ll be waiting, maybe not so patiently though lol. Natalia immerses you in Valya’s world of the paranormal to the point where you can actually see, smell & even feel what’s being described. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK!

This is my first time doing an early review...

Let me begin by saying i usually read a lot of historical romance, so this was very different for me.

It took a while for the story to really pick up. In the first few chapters i felt lost, and was not really that into it.As it went on it did get faster paced, but i still felt something was missing for me..
I managed to make it to the end, but in the end, i still had mixed feeling about the book.

Overall it was really well written and a good storyline. For me though, i just never really felt attached to the main characters. I wanted them (especially Chris) to have more depth. I didn't feel any excitement at the end to rush out and read the next one. So it ends up 3 stars for me.

Not sure what show more else to say, again this is my first review and i just want to say thank you for the chance to read this book! show less